How & Why I'm Shopping Less Than Ever
Shopping used to be such a big part of my life, I would countdown the days until payday or even better student loan day as I knew that I could go out and go shopping. For so long I was an emotional shopper and relied on the after purchase high to deal with anything going on in my life and it’s taken me a long time to work on my relationship with money and material items but I think I’ve finally made progress. This year, I’ve shopped less than ever before and it’s been a really good thing and this how I’ve done it.
the environment
I feel like I have to give a disclaimer of the fact that I am not doing anything amazing or out of this world when it comes to being kinder to the planet like so many people are. But, I am trying my best to be nicer to the world that I’m fortunate enough to live in and one of the things that I am so conscious of after watching that Stacey Dooley documentary last year on fast fashion is how much I’m shopping. Fast fashion is one of the biggest factors in climate change and that is something that I was completely unaware of, infact I hadn’t even thought twice about what it took to make my clothes which is so horribly arrogant. As of right now, I’m not in a position where I’m able to buy absolutely everything I own from brands that are sustainable nor do I always like the styles that are on offer from those brands. But something I’m more than capable of doing is shopping less and shopping second hand too.
UNFOLLOWING NEWSLETTERS
For years my inbox was full of newsletters from various online stores and without fail, I’d get suckered in and end up on the website even though I more than likely didn’t need anything. A while ago I went through and unsubscribed from any stores newsletter that I didn’t want to hear from anymore and not having things pinged into my inbox multiple times a day has really changed how I shop. I no longer sit and scroll through ASOS or Topshop for hours on end and infact unless I’m shopping for something in specific I rarely browse online.
needs vs wants
Maybe one of the biggest things for me when it comes to shopping and consuming less is knowing the difference between the things that I need and the things that I want and lust after. Because obviously, there is a big difference between the two and now I try and only shop for things that I actually need. One of the easiest ways I do this is not browsing online or in real life as I find once I start doing that then I see things that I do like and would wear but ultimately when I buy things on a whim I never end up wanting to keep hold of from a long time which now when I purchase something I really want to bear in mind. Now I tend to work out how the things I need in my life if I find myself wanting something and then I write those things on a list and wait a little while to see if they’re something that I 'need'. I put practicality and cost per wear over anything else these days, I try and ignore trends as a trend piece is never going to stay in my wardrobe for a long time.
KEEPING A LIST
Something that I started doing this year was keeping a list of things that I wanted to buy. I know there are some of you out there who might think this is so unnecessary and somewhat ridiculous but it has helped me so much. Not only has it helped me with not buying anything on a whim but it’s also really helped to me keep an eye on the things that I have been buying and this year I’ve bought less than 12 items for the entire year and 4 of those have been second hand. This number will either seem like a lot to people but for me, that’s so little in comparison to how much I used to shop. As I said whenever I think of something that I’d like to pick up or I notice something that is missing from my life then on it goes to the list and it helps so much to avoid impulse purchases. To keep things organised I separate the list into the following segments;
dogs
clothes
house
SHOPPING SECOND HAND
Whilst I donate a lot of things to charity shops something that I was struggling with was shopping in them as they can often be a little chaotic. So something that I have started doing so much more now is using the likes of eBay and Depop as they make it so much easier to search for something specific. Shopping second hand is not only so much friendlier to the environment but there is something so exciting about finding something you love for a fraction of what you’d pay for the same thing new. Now when I do think of something that I’d like to add to my life I always check eBay or Depop first to see what is on offer before trying to find it new.
seasonal wardrobes
For years, I never changed around my wardrobe in line with the seasons but it’s something that I’ve started to do again and I find it really helpful to tidy away my clothes for a portion of the year as when I take them back out it makes things feel fresh once again. I changed over to my A/W wardrobe a few weeks ago and getting everything back out made me feel so excited to wear it once again and it gave me that shopping high without having to spend a penny.
